Sinkhole risk in Benton County, IN: No soluble rock mapped

No soluble rock mapped

No soluble bedrock mapped.

On soluble rock: under 1%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: under 1%

What this means before you buy

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

Across 406 square miles, under one square mile of Benton County maps onto soluble rock. With about 8,853 residents (22 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 415 map points about 1.0 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Benton County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Monroe County, IN, about 108 miles southeast. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Warren County, IN 17 mi south · 0% at surface
Newton County, IN 25 mi north · 0% at surface
White County, IN 26 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Tippecanoe County, IN 27 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Iroquois County, IL 29 mi west · 0% at surface
Jasper County, IN 31 mi north · 0% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Muscatatuck Group (limestone), Devonian in age, covering about under 1% of the county.

The county also lies over the Illinois Basin, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Indiana

Benton County ranks 37 of 92 in Indiana for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.